Visualizing the Overlay and Motion on its Larger Plane
- From: Brian Fleeger <brianfleeger yahoo com>
- To: Gnome List <gnome-shell-list gnome org>
- Subject: Visualizing the Overlay and Motion on its Larger Plane
- Date: Mon, 9 Mar 2009 22:23:28 -0700 (PDT)
Hi all,
I have been thinking about design and UI visualization issues and want to share some ideas.
pic#1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/26671354 N05/3334338024/sizes/o/in/photostream/
pic#2 (same as 1, but with white border on side-bar): http://www.flickr.com/photos/26671354 N05/3343610802/sizes/l/in/photostream/
It occured to me after seeing Sander's mockups that the shell really does exist on a giant plane which is larger than the user's screen. When a user switches between the main Overlay and the two full screen modes, there is a sliding motion that has to be visualized. But motion is best visualized when there are fixed
points of reference against which to contrast.Because some elements of what the user sees do not move as the panel
shifts (e.g. the top panel, parts of the UI, etc.), there has to
be sufficient visual anchoring to create a sense of motion as the screen panel
moves across the plane. To achieve this, a plain black or gray field lacks anchoring references
and is probably insufficient. At the
same time, there should be a balance between anchoring and visual
over-stimulation.
A picture could provide visual anchoring by being a plane-spanning
"meta-wallpaper," (based on the active Activity Space wallpaper?). If Activity Spaces could have their own backgrounds, the
"meta-wallpaper" could change based on which space was active when
the overlay mode was entered.
It would
look cool if one could enable different slide-show wallpapers for each workspace,
and see them transition in the Overlay. (even more like the Brady Bunch opening)
Increasing the virtual "size" of a user's normal wallpaper
may make the "meta-wallpaper" look pixilated or blurry, but Gaussian
Blur + darkening/contrast reduction could
resolve this issue, while also reducing visual clutter.
Additional semi-transparent "shadow fields" could maintain
UI boundaries and making white text more visible. Such fields could resemble the semitransparent
UI in the "Boxee" media player, and could also be fixed to the plane,
follow the camera and slide across the plane, or change shape as the panel
moves to different positions on the plane.
Some other "bling" thoughts I had included the active Activity
Space could use a light colored "reverse halo" effect to
differentiate it. Also,
the specific
window a user was using when s/he pressed the "Activities" button
could stand out by darkening and reducing the contrast on the other windows
(expose-style). This would give a
cognitive clue helping users return to that specific task quickly.
I also slightly played with the UI here, in that I added a "viewing modes" toggle at the bottom of the side panel. I think it might be a good idea if users could manipulate the side panel using individual icons instead of *just* list view, if they want. In icon mode, objects could be arranged on a grid, like a phone pad.
I look forward to any feedback -- Cheers!
-Brian
Referenced Material:
[1] Sander Dijkhuis' overlay changes mockup: http://student.science.uva.nl/~sqdh/gs-mockup/ and
http://student.science.uva.nl/~sqdh/gs-mockup/2/screenshot.png[2] Stephen Gentle's gnome shell concept:
http://flickr.com/photos/90974384 N00/3276444810/
[
Date Prev][
Date Next] [
Thread Prev][
Thread Next]
[
Thread Index]
[
Date Index]
[
Author Index]